While accepting The Trophée Des Arts award at The Plaza Hotel this month, Academy Award winner, Jane Fonda, struck the right tone by expressing her fervent admiration for France, and FIAF by saying “Alliance Française (aka FIAF) have to reach out and remind each other why we love France. And why France loves us. It is about “loving each other and respecting each other,” she added. “It comes from culture.” How true. The 2018 FIAF Trophée Des Arts gala was also an evening filled with old Hollywood glamour, laughter, friendship, and goodwill.
From Left: Marie Monique Steckel, President of FIAF, Charles Cohen, Jane Fonda, Sebastien Bazin at the FIAF 2018 Trophée Des Arts Gala. Monday, November 12, 2018, The Plaza Hotel. Photo By Amber De Vos©
Thomas Barrack, Sebastien Bazin, CEO and Chairman of AccorHotels with his Pilier d’Or award at the FIAF 2018 Trophée Des Arts Gala. Photo By Amber De Vos©
An evening of old Hollywood glamor: Sam Waterston, and Academy award winner, Jane Fonda. Photo By Amber De Vos©
Internationally celebrated artist, Jeff Koons, and Oscar winner , Jane Fonda. Photo By Amber De Vos©
Sam Waterston, Jane Fonda at the FIAF 2018 Trophée Des Arts Gala, November 12, 2018. Photo credit Amber De Vos©
The 2018 FIAF Trophée Des Arts Gala on November 12, 2018 at The Plaza Hotel, NYC. Photo credit Amber De Vos©
The annual gala also served as a reminder of the glamour, warmth, and elegance of French hospitality, as the Chairman and CEO of AccorHotels, Sébastien Bazin, received the Pilier d’Or award. Thomas Barrack Jr., who presented the Pilier d’Or to Sébastien Bazin, shared this question with the 510 guests who attended the annual gala, “When a friend who had introduced me to Bazin three decades before asked me why I was presenting this award, I said, well, it is because I lost a toss coin flip: I thought I was getting Jane Fonda.”
Santa Teresa Hotel, Sofitel. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AccorHotels. http://www.accorhotels.com
Santa Teresa Hotel, Sofitel. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AccorHotels. http://www.accorhotels.com
Santa Teresa Hotel, Sofitel. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AccorHotels. http://www.accorhotels.com
Raffles Hotel, Singapore. AccorHotels. All rights reserved
Raffles Hotel, Singapore. AccorHotels. All rights reserved
Raffles Hotel, Singapore. AccorHotels. All rights reserved
Grand Hôtel Beauvau Marseille Vieux-Port – by Sofitel. AccorHotels. All rights reserved.
Grand Hôtel Beauvau Marseille Vieux-Port – by Sofitel. AccorHotels. All rights reserved.
Grand Hôtel Beauvau Marseille Vieux-Port – by Sofitel. AccorHotels. All rights reserved.
Will all kidding aside, AccorHotels is one of the world’s largest hotel group, with over 30 brands, from luxury to economy. The hospitality giant boasts 4,500 hotels, 280,000 employees in 100 countries. Sébastien Bazin, during his acceptance speech, noted with humor that AccorHotels is number one “everywhere on the planet, except in America and China,” before adding, “it is too bad because these are the two biggest hospitality markets.” While echoing the educational mission of FIAF in New York City, the CEO of AccorHotels emphasized that the size of the market is not what drives him the most. Rather, he said, it is the 50,000 new people who join the hotel group every year from all parts of the world. “Ninety percent of the people we hire in Myanmar, in West Africa or in Chili, have absolutely no education. My duty to them is to transform them to be stronger persons and to have better chances in life.”
Jane Fonda takes Center Stage, while being honored for her French Savoir Faire While accepting The Trophée Des Arts award at The Plaza Hotel this month, Academy Award winner, Jane Fonda, struck the right tone by expressing her fervent admiration for France, and…